My Journey to Minimalism

The above title is perhaps a little misleading, it gives the idea that I’ve completed the journey to minimalism and that would be incorrect, the reality is I’m still walking this journey.

I planned my wedding in February 2015, after a whirlwind engagement in the South of France, I returned home to NZ to undertake a process I had been dreaming of for a long time. Although my fiancé was still in the UK I began tackling wedding styling and planning full force. Naively I considered myself an expert. I’d worked in the industry as a wedding stylist, I’d spent time on photoshoots I knew about stress, time constraints and how to design stuff. Boy was I wrong.

I quickly learnt that you can know all the tricks of the trade but if your head’s not in the right space no set of tricks will change your thoughts and feelings. Now don’t worry I wasn’t bridezilla and I didn’t have a complete melt down, and I did come out of the experience still steadfast in my dreams of being a stylist but I did come to look forward to what was beyond my wedding day, rather than look forward to the day itself.

In retrospect this experience like every stressful one taught me numerous lessons.

It taught me the value of process

A friend once describe to me a house she walked past every day as a girl, the house was derelict, isolated and ugly. She hated walking past it, the house was a symbol of mistreatment and abandoment butoddly enough the thing that caused her the most discomfort was seeing it unfinished. This is not unlike how I feel about process, I’m uncomfortable with the start and the middle, I only like the end and I’d prefer to get there as fast as possible. I soon learnt that isn’t a good way to spend your life nor is it a way to enjoy the process of getting married.

It taught me the value of people

I grew up in a Maori family; at our base nature we are tribal people, community people. Aesthetically I don’t look Maori so I have in the past struggled with what my “place” is. At its very heart weddings, events, occasions and gatherings are about celebrating the community you have around you, whatever that looks like and your place in it.

It taught me the value of business confidence

Prior to undertaking this journey I was directionless with where I wanted my business to go, this sharp and timely journey has helped not only my brain but my motivation levels, I’m not there yet and who knows if I ever will be but I now have the stamina and confidence for the journey

From these experiences I have developed my approach to wedding style, a process rooted in minimalism, less is more and being purposeful is everything.

Through all these lessons I also learnt the importance of passing on knowledge and creating a community who wants to share in the same journey.